Too Important. Sorry.

I saw this “spoof” ad on theonion.com and was immediately struck by a sharp edge of the blunt message. It’s like a paper cut. The message is far too important to overlook so I decided to use the image. Before going further let it be noted that I considered blocking off both the “off color” term and the company name at the bottom. That left me with a gutless message so I decided to go with it as found. I am not picking on Arbys; I’m picking on all of us.

That said, let’s look at the seriousness of the message. Most consumers will immediately get the humor of this “ad”. What should scare us about that is why they get it. It’s funny because they know when they are being served the same stuff on a new bun.

If your product or service isn’t taking off the way you hoped it would, you might ask yourself if you’ve only changed the bun. In spite of the language, I would recommend this phrase, “SAME SHIT. DIFFERENT BUN.” [wince] become a test phrase for every new product or service or marketing ploy your business attempts. If only the bun is new, better try something else.

This is part of the reason product cycles are so short. I see dozens of “new” products discounted or rebates offered 60 days after initial release. That’s brutal. If all your R&D budget is going into developing new buns, you’re asking for low margins.

Get to work on the sandwich and you’ll have a far better chance of coming out ahead.